Category Archives: Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing

This multilayered examination of the struggle of the blue-collar working class holds a mirror to the political landscape in contemporary Portugal, and runs the gamut from cinema vérité to neorealist musical. Employees at an elevator parts manufacturer catch thieves robbing the factory. But the thieves have been hired by the management, who soon order the workers to report for their shifts and do nothing until the company-wide layoffs can begin. Factions form around those who want to strike and save their jobs and those who just want a decent severance package. FIPRESCI Prize, 2017 Cannes Film Festival; Official Selection, 2017 Toronto, Karlovy Vary, Busan film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Pedro Pinho; SCR/PROD Tiago Hespanha, Luisa Homem, Leonor Noivo; PROD João Matos, Susana Nobre. Portugal, 2017, color, 177 min. In Portuguese and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 177 Minutes
Genre: Drama

2018 Oscar Selection, Slovenia
Since leaving Bosnia in the 1970s, Alija (Leon Lučev) has been working as a miner in Slovenia’s Zasavje coal region. One of many migrant workers employed in a failing industry, Alija is afraid to refuse when he is tasked with opening a long-sealed mineshaft to declare it empty. When he opens the abandoned shaft, however, Alija uncovers some terrible secrets. Refusing to bow to his employers’ demands to stay quiet, Alija sets out to expose the truth. Based on a true story, Slovenian director Hanna Slak’s (BLIND SPOT) powerful third feature reveals a dark chapter in Slovenia’s history with honesty and compassion. Winner, Best Director and Best Actor, 2017 Festival of Slovenian Film. DIR/SCR Hanna Slak; PROD Miha Knific, Siniša Juričić. Slovenia/Croatia, 2017, color, 98 min. In Slovenian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 98 Minutes
Genre: Thriller

Directed by: Chrissie StansfieldRunning Time: 48 minStarring: N/aWebsite: N/aSynopsis: This fascinating documentary analyzes how the patterns of international capital investment and the exploitation of Third World women workers in free trade zones are being brought home to the First World. Issues discussed include: the internationalization of local economies, the growing schism between the rich and poor and the changing nature of women’s work.

Synopsis: Over the past twenty years, manufacturing plants and mining companies have closed throughout rural America, often leaving behind communities with crumbling infrastructures, widespread unemployment, and inexperience in self-governance. Such was the case in two hard hit southwest Virginia towns  Trammel and Ivanhoe. In 1986 Trammel attracted national attention as the privately owned town whose 50 homes, company store, post office, and water and cable systems were put on the auction block. Rough Side of the Mountain follows the story as local residents, mostly unemployed and disabled, organized with the help of churches and foundations to purchase the auctioned homes and save their town. In Ivanhoe, the program profiles the efforts of the Ivanhoe Civic League as community members attempt to rebuild after the loss of two major industries, the school, and local businesses. Rough Side of the Mountain looks at grassroots community organizing and the steel ceiling encountered by many poor rural communities as they struggle to develop new economies in an increasingly global system.

The film is about a lathe machine worker from a small workshop, who loses his job because of automation after working for 35 years. The film focuses on social injustice due to unemployment result of artificial intelligence.
Directed by Mangesh Joshi; 9028904801; mangeshjoshi.pune@gmail.com